Underground valve



Dec. 26, 1939. F. R. COSTER I UNDERGRGUND VALVE Filed Dec. 9, 1933INVENTOR FRA/v/r R. C05 727? W, xlklmlb ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 26, 1939UNITED: STATES PATENT UNDERGROUND VALVE Frank R. Coster, ,Scarsdale, N.Y., assignor of one-half to Harry N. Y.

G. Kimball, Bronxville,

Application December 9, 1933, Serial No. 701,589

1 Claim.

This invention relates to buried pipe-line valves and provides a meansof avoiding the necessity of so frequently digging them up in order tostop leakages. Such valves are ordinarily made accessible from theground surface, for turning them on and off, through a ground box ortubular access casing which encloses the valve at its lower end andterminates flush with the ground or pavement at its upper end, where itis provided with a cover. A long-shanked key or wrench is engaged to thevalve, through the casing, and used for turning it on and ofi. If thevalve leaks, repair ordinarily requires its excavation and replacementbecause the access casing is not wide enough to permit working on thevalve from the surface. I have observed that the most common repairconsists in merely increasing the pressure on the packingaround thevalve spindle and this invention consists in an arrangement whereby thisoperation can also be done from the ground surface in the same manner asthe ordinary operation of the valve. The adjustable member of the valvegland is therefore so organized on the valve that a proper tool inserteddown the access tube, and more or less guided by it, can be brought intothe necessary engagement with it for tightening the packing. In this waya material saving of time and labor is accomplished without anyappreciable effect on the cost of manufacture of either valve or roadbox.

The preferred form of the invention is taken for illustration in thedrawing wherein:

Fig. l is a vertical section of a conventional type of buriedinstallation sufliciently to scale to illustrate the principle involved,

Fig. 2 is a plan and Fig. 3 is a larger scale detail of the gland andthe tool used for tightening it.

The valve shown will be understood to be of 40 any usual type connectedin a buried pipe-line I. Access is provided to it from the groundsurface, indicated at 2, through a tubular casing 3 which is flush withthe ground at its upper end and also squared and recessed to receive asquare flush cover, not shown. The lower end of the casing is belled toenclose and protect the upper part at least of the. valve, so as to keepthe surrounding earth away from it. This casing may be of standarddesign and size, and in more than one piece if desired, and need be nolarger than customarilyused to permit the application of the usual valvekey through it for turning the valve on and off. The blocks, shown at 4,represent the support for the box or casing while it 55 is beinginstalled and as will be understood.

In this preferred form of the invention, the spindle head 5 of the valveis made asusual with a squared or angular cross section to fit the valvekey; also it may have the usual bottom flange 6, if that is desired, tolimit the extent to which the valve key will telescope over it, but suchflange is not necessary in the present case and is only shown because itrepresents usual construction. I

The gland or stufiing box for the valve spindle is also shown as ofconventional design and its adjustment means is preferablyconcentrically related to the spindle, being shown asa cap Iscrew-threaded to the body of the gland. This cap or gland-tighteningnut is wider than the spindle head, or if not wider, is formed withradial lugs such as marked 8 which extend beyond the limits of the headbut yet lie wholly within the projected cross area of the narrowestdiameter of the access tube so that a tubular spanner 9 which is of aninternal diameterexceeding that of the head can be let down the casing.around the head and engaged to the cap below it. This gland tool canthus'be used to tighten the gland in substantially the same Way theordinary valve key is used to turn the valve spindle, neitherinterfering with the other.

The adjuster cap 7 can have any suitable shape to interlock with thegland tool and the spindle head can, and inthe form shown'does, assistin guiding the gland tool into interlocking contact with the cap; thelug slots in the gland tool may also be long and'tapered'or flared forthe same purpose. It willflbe apparent that inasmuch as this gland tool,as shown, is tubular and may therefore be adequately strong with but arelatively thin wall section, it is accordingly adapted to make a properengagement with the cap notwithstanding a considerable disalignment ofthe valve axisand the access tube, suchas may have occurred fromsettling of the earth, thereby insuring the success. of the tighteningoperation in practically any case where the valve spindle can also bereached for operating the valve.

The principle of the invention, as has been already indicated, can becarried out by other forms of valve and gland arrangement and it will beunderstood that there is no limitation to the particular design shown,except as required in the following claim.

I I claim: I y

In underground pipe and valve equipment of the kind comprising a buriedvalve and narrow access tube, the latter having a cover at the 55OFFICE,

ground surface and leading therefrom to said valve and being whollyindependent of and unattached to, said valve and of such dimensions asto preclude personal entry, the spindle of said valve having a head'ofangular cross section, disposed at the lower end of said access tube ina position to receive a valve key guided thereto by said tube, thecombination. of a gland-tightening nut for said spindle concentricallymounted 10 on the valve and wholly disposed within and at the lower endof said access tube, one or more radial lugs on the nut extendinghorizontally outward therefrom beyond the limit of the spindle head andwithin the projected cross-area of the narrowest part of said tube andin line with the annular space between said tube and spindle head, sothat a gland-tightening tool inserted through said space, will be guidedby the tube and the spindle head into engagement therewith.

FRANK R. COSTER.

